First of all, THANK YOU ALL for your advice and kindness in my last post. You are all wonderful people!

I took your advice of going slowly, and today I sat in the car (alone), played around with the lights, moved the mirrors and the seat.

My anxiety spiked, but reading your comments and encouragement helped A LOT. I spent around 20 minutes there, breathing and pushing buttons.

I can do this! Slowly! The most important step is the next one

  • JigglySackles@lemmy.world
    1·
    50 minutes ago

    Keep doing that until the anxiety lowers. Make the next step, turning it on and letting it run while you do that. (If that’s not what you already did)

    Then practice selecting gears with your foot on the brake. i didn’t see the original post but I’m guessing you are working up to driving?

    You’ll be OK. Just breathe and tell your anxiety to get in the back seat.😉

  • Cris@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    18 hours ago

    I’m so fuckin proud of you! Keep taking little steps, keep being compassionate to yourself, we believe in you! ❤️

    Anxiety is really fucking hard, and you can do hard things 🫂

  • Chris@feddit.ukEnglish
    23·
    1 day ago

    I didn’t read your other post until just now. There are a lot of comments and I’m sure everything has been said already. First things first, if you struggle to see over the steering wheel, get a cushion (some cars have height adjustment on the seats so check that too). If that then means you can’t reach the pedals you may need a smaller car. Being able to see and reach the controls is the most important thing.

    Beyond that, go slowly, take short trips on empty roads or around car parks to build up confidence and work your way up. No passengers!

    • dingus@lemmy.worldEnglish
      7·
      1 day ago

      I’m a short person. I tend to have the seat adjusted nearly all the way up (so I can see enough put the window lol) and nearly all the way forward (so I can reach the pedals lol).

      • JigglySackles@lemmy.world
        1·
        48 minutes ago

        Might be a good idea to look into extensions for the pedals, if the airbag deploys while you are too close it could do more damage than the wreck. Be safe 🙂

      • Chris@feddit.ukEnglish
        4·
        1 day ago

        Emphasis on the trusted. They also need to trust you, no back seat driving.

        If the OP isn’t going far then this shouldn’t be required - just ditch the car somewhere and walk back if necessary.

        It’s a lot easier to fiddle with controls and work stuff out if there isn’t somebody observing.

  • BCsven@lemmy.ca
    41·
    1 day ago

    My mum I short. She had a booster seat to sit in. And some people get pedal extensions added so the gas and brake are in a comfortable location.

    • howler@lemmy.zipOP
      7·
      1 day ago

      As someone suggested, I’ll move the car 1 meter forward and back. I’ll also keep playing with the buttons to build muscle memory.

      I’m leaving for a trip but afterwards I’ll ask someone to take the car out of the parking lot (which requires more skill than I currently have) and I’ll try to go around my neighbourhood at unholy hours so I don’t have to face other cars just yet.

      The going around the block part will take a long time, but I won’t let anyone pressure me into going fast.